Families Spend Night at Eastleigh Building Collapse Site as Loved Ones Remain Trapped Inside

Desperate relatives kept a second overnight vigil at the scene of a collapsed 18-storey building along 9th Street in Eastleigh, Nairobi, on Wednesday, refusing to leave as multi-agency rescue teams continued cutting through layers of reinforced concrete in search of survivors.

Desperate families spend the night in Eastleigh as rescue operations continue for their loved ones trapped in the collapsed building. Photo: Citizen TV. Source: FacebookThe mood at the site was one of quiet anguish. Families pressed against police cordons, worn down by sleeplessness but unwilling to move, their attention fixed on every movement of the heavy machinery slowly dismantling the massive heap of debris.

Peter Baraza, a relative of one of the construction workers believed to be trapped on the fourth floor at the time of the collapse, described the helplessness his family was feeling.

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Baraza also called on the government to deploy at least one additional excavator to speed up the recovery effort, saying the family was prepared to face whatever outcome awaited them.

A similar story of uncertainty unfolded for Abdikadir Mohammed, whose sister-in-law had reportedly stepped out briefly to attend a mosque before returning to her basement shop moments before disaster struck.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, rescue teams had managed to establish brief contact with people believed to be alive in the basement level, raising hopes across the site.

That lifeline was later lost, with officials suspecting the phones of those trapped had run out of charge. The silence that followed was difficult for waiting families to bear.

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Vincent Ochieng', a National Disaster Management Unit official, confirmed the scale of the crisis.

As darkness settled over Eastleigh for the second consecutive night, families remained rooted to the spot, watching excavators claw through the rubble and holding on to whatever hope the hours would still allow.

Lynn-Linzer Kibebe (Human interest editor) Lynn-Linzer Kibebe is a versatile and resolute digital journalist with more than six years of experience in media. She currently works as a human interest editor at TUKO.co.ke, where she focuses on feel-good stories and day-to-day pieces that touch on the human aspect of life driving societal change. She can be reached via email address lynn-linzer.kibebe@tuko.co.ke